Enfield Town Model Railway ClubRetired or Dismantled Layouts Section - Wood
Knot Creek (Part 1) - by Keith Plum
As some of you may have read in my scribblings about "Willoughby South" I mentioned that a portable G scale layout was planned, well the beast is under construction! To try and make this a bit different the plan is to update this page as the project progresses, so I have called this page 'Part One' in anticipation of writing more. Are you sitting comfortably? Good! Here we go; The base boards are recycled from a dismantled '00' layout (no point in wasting them) there are 6 in total, 3 scenic and 3 fiddle yard. The layout is an oval tail chaser. The boards are arranged with 3 scenic boards to the front and 3 fiddle yard to the rear and are connected by a horseshoe shaped curve at each end. The main construction is 3" x 1" timber with 2" x 1" cross bracings. Each board measures 7' x 2', this was to give a minimum amount of track joints over board joints. The total overall size is about 26`x 8`, so it won`t go into the back of the current hatchback!
I suppose every layout should have a raison d`etre. Mmm! always a tough one to be original. For me on this part was fairly simple, a logging line used tight curves (always useful). Locos that are already on the shelf at home 1x Shay + 1x Climax accompanied by other small and useful locos + already acquired logging wagons. A saw mill in G scale (1-20.3) is going to be enormous so the opportunity of a working mill by Pola for a reasonable price was jumped at. With this as a start the idea was born. How about a secondary mill away from the main works to cut small logs for local domestic use. The trains will enter with empty wagons heading up to the main camp at Bald Knob (this is a real location on the Cass Scenic Railway in Colorado) they will pass over the road crossing and past the small loco shed used as a water stop and servicing point, then onwards past the siding where the cut lumber is being sorted, stacked and loaded. Around the rear of the mill towards the creek.
Well that's it for part 1, part 2 will be along soon. At present the new bathroom takes priority but that's nearly done. I hope you find my scribblings interesting and would welcome any comments or info that may help. The deadline for completion is our club show in June 2004. Text & Photos © K. Plum revised 15th Sept 03 Part Two of this interesting project is now available. Ed.
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